1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a protective enclosure for portable media such as a Compact Disc (CD) or other similar type of recording media.
2. Description of the Related Art
CD's and DVD's are among the most common medium for storing and transporting data from one location to another. Whether they contain music, movies or software, these discs are utilized by virtually every industry imaginable. Because data is written on the outside of a CD (and other such media), these discs can easily become scratched or damaged when dropped or impacted by foreign objects. Traditionally, packaging containers for CD's have come in two varieties which include the hard “jewel box” design and the soft “sleeve” design.
Jewel box containers typically comprise a cover manufactured of transparent plastic material as well as a hard plastic base for holding the disc in place. Typically, one end of the cover is attached to the base via a hinge, while the other end is secured to the base via a clip or other securing means, thus allowing the cover to be opened and closed at will. For instance, U.S. Pat. No. 5,101,971 describes a storage holder having a rigid base and cover. However, traditional designs utilizing all rigid materials have drawbacks owing to the expense, weight and durability of the material. As such, recent designs have focused incorporating the use of lower cost materials into the traditional design. For instance, U.S. Pat. No. 6,079,557; U.S. Pat. No. 6,283,286; and U.S. Patent Publication No. 2008-0017535 describe containers that utilize a traditional hard plastic base that is paired with a cover constructed from less expensive material, such as a light plastic flap or a paper covering. However, the financial and environmental costs associated with producing packaging of this type remain high due to the use of several different non-biodegradable materials such as injection molded plastic, composites and adhesive materials. Moreover, there remains a problem wherein the less expensive covers provide no protection to the disc against impact and oftentimes, the cover will separate from the base when the container is dropped, causing the disc to become dislodged which can result in damage to the disc.
Alternatively, sleeve packages are inexpensive to manufacture and typically comprise a lightweight paper material having a pocket into which the disc is inserted. Several examples include: U.S. Pat. No. 5,662,217; U.S. Pat. No. 5,154,284; U.S. Pat. No. 6,227,364; U.S. Pat. No. 6,494,319; and U.S. Pat. No. 7,267,226. Although these containers are lightweight and are at least partly biodegradable, there is a problem in which they provide virtually no protection against impact or pressure, provide little internal support for the disc and will quickly disintegrate when exposed to sufficient moisture. Moreover, any artwork or content list which typically accompanies the disc must be reproduced on the outside of the sleeve, thus increasing production costs and producing additional waste.
Accordingly, it would be beneficial to provide an improved disc package having a unitary design which is lightweight, biodegradable, moisture resistant and resistant to impact. It is also an objective of the invention to provide a disc enclosure which is simple to use and economical to manufacture.